Robert’s Ramblings

A black-tipped blade broke through the smooth water ahead. The gently rising fin soon became orca – like a submarine breaching the surface. Unlike the submarine, the orca’s body surged forwards and down again as it slipped once more beneath the calm water.

When the ocean is almost millpond-flat, any disturbance on the water is accentuated by the calmness around it. A blast of whale-blow mist, the rise and fall of a distant humpback or the smooth lift of an orca fin all become centre stage in the surrounding vastness.

While not the excitement of other whale encounters, these solitary moments brought their own quiet joy.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #fjords #travel #OrcinusOrca #ocean #sea #cetacean #MarineMammals

A breathtaking moment in the presence of the ocean’s greatest predator – or was it?

When I talk about being in the water surrounded by killer whales, I’m often asked, “Were you scared?” or “What if they changed their mind about the menu?”

I can honestly say that not only was I completely comfortable swimming with these magnificent creatures, but every pass and every moment of curious scrutiny filled me with such joy that even the icy cold of the Norwegian fjords felt warm in their presence.

There are two significant subspecies of orca: Orcinus orca ater, or resident orca, and Orcinus orca rectipinnus, or Bigg’s orca. Bigg’s orca have become infamous for their brutal attacks on marine mammals and, to my mind, they truly are the ocean’s greatest predators. Resident orca, on the other hand, live symbiotic lives with a single fish species – in this case, North Sea herring – and seem to enjoy far more complex and richer social lives than their brutish cousins.

So whenever I’m asked what it’s like to swim with killer whales, I light up, beam a grin from ear to ear, and say, “It’s something quite special, and I can’t wait to do it all again.”


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #fjords #travel #OrcinusOrcaAter #OrcinusAter

There is action below as the orca dip, dive, and circle. For every orca seen on the surface, there are two or more below—herding, corralling, and reining in the herring, keeping them packed in a tight ball like some giant underwater salad bowl.

It’s too late in the day to get into the water with the whales this time. It’s too dark to photograph. It’s too dark, really, to even see what’s going on. Instead, with the sun lingering on the horizon and catching the sea spray, giving texture to the churning water and illuminating the misty orca plumes, we contented ourselves with the view as the herring salad was consumed.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #herring #fjords #AnimalBehaviour #travel #feeding #baitball

Eighty years ago, a large whitewashed “80 EIRE” sign was cut into the rock at Malin Head on the Inishowen Peninsula, Ireland’s northernmost mainland point.

This sign, along with more than 80 others around the Irish coastline, was created to warn Axis forces that they had entered neutral territory and to serve as a navigational aid for Allied pilots.

Today, many decades after World War II, most of these signs have fallen into disrepair, with fewer than a quarter still visible. Malin Head’s unique position—and its long-standing role in maritime history, weather forecasting, and more recently, tourism—has ensured its upkeep and continued visibility.

If you find yourself on the Inishowen Peninsula and the weather is clear, make your way to Malin Head. Walk out onto the rocks, pause by the old marker, and reflect on 80 EIRE and what it represented all those years ago. Then get back to your car quickly, before the weather changes its mind and blows you halfway back down the peninsula.


#Ireland #InishowenPeninsula #TinyPlanet #MalinHead #Eire80 #travel

Some encounters on the water unfold quietly, almost before you realise you’re witnessing something special. Most of our humpback whale sightings began the same way: a sudden, explosive blow, that familiar hump rising into view, and then only the drifting mist of exhaled droplets hanging in the air.

As the whales travelled, this pattern repeated itself with a steady rhythm, five or six breaths, each one spaced out as they moved along before diving and slipping out of sight for a few minutes.

It was always their final surface appearance that drew us in. First the blow, then the curving hump, but this time they lifted their magnificent flukes high into the air before dropping straight down into the depths below.

And in one of those fluke moments, the sun, the whale, and its rising tail aligned perfectly, turning that beautiful fluke into a brief, magical, shower of gold.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca # GoldenHour #fluke #travel #fjords

There are so many compelling reasons to travel beyond the Arctic Circle in winter. Our reason was clear from the outset, orca, whales and their winter feeding on North Sea herring. All else is a bonus.

On our first night in Norway, we travelled by ferry from Tromsø to Skjervøy, and that’s when the northern light show began. For the hours we braved the cold on deck, we were enthralled, first with the lights of Tromsø shimmering over water, and then by the ethereal green curtains of light that seemed to emerge from nowhere, dance across the sky with abandon, then disappear without a trace.

On and off all evening, from the ferry and then in the sky above us in Skjervøy, the light show continued.

No single image could ever convey just how dynamic the Northern Lights really are. They dance and sweep and shimmer to their own rhythm. Sometimes the lights lingered. Sometimes they swept fleetingly across the sky. Sometimes they were like storm clouds shedding veils of ethereal rain.

We came for the orca, the whales, and the herring, but that bonus of witnessing the aurora borealis will always be a light show to remember.


#Norway #Skjervoy #aurora #AuroraBorealis #travel #fjords #FishEye

Every day we headed out into a world different from the previous one.

Some days blessed us with a beautiful sunrise or sunset; some were cold, grey, and drizzly. Some days the sea was rough and unwelcoming, while others were like being on a millpond. Most days were ultimately a mixture of all of the above.

Regardless of the conditions, we only had eyes for that now-familiar tall dorsal fin or the tell-tale signs of whale blow on the horizon.

In those moments when it all came together at once, orca, sunshine, and a quarrelsome sea, we knew we had found Norwegian gold.


#Norway #Skjervoy #orca #GoldenHour #whale #MarineMammals #travel #fjords

From the corner of my eye I caught some movement not too far away and heard a loud slap as I turned toward the disturbance. There was white water thrown into the air, but not the mist normally accompanying a surfacing whale.

Then up rose the magnificent fluke of a humpback whale. It lingered high above the water for a moment or two before coming back down again with an almighty slap, sending sea spray everywhere.

I watched for a few moments, just taking in the spectacle, as the whale flapped and slapped some more, not thinking I had time for any photos. I was expecting this wonderful display to be brief, but a minute later the exhibition continued. Out came my camera and I got plenty more flaps and slaps before the whale gave one last slap, proceeded to roll around on its back for a while, then descended below the surface.

A moment later the whale broke the surface with that familiar plume of exhaled mist before heading off on its way.

There are all sorts of reasons why humpback whales slap their flukes, but this time around I am sure it was just for the fun of it.


#Norway #Skjervoy #TailFlap #HumpbackWhale #Whale #MarineMammals #AnimalBehaviour

On this occasion, I’d free-dived quite deep and found myself looking up toward the surface as mother and child swam into view.

Noticing my strategic position below them, I’m sure I had just become the subject of that day’s lesson in playful showing off.

As the two approached, the mum rotated as she glided by and continued swimming upside-down. The youngster, swimming tail-to-nose in front of her, followed her lead, and together they drifted down to me and then alongside.

At first, I thought they would simply swim on, bringing an already beautiful encounter to a close. But then something unexpected happened. In a movement worthy of some exquisitely choreographed ballet, the young orca completed a full turn, circling back around its mum. The pair spiralled around each other up toward the surface before slipping off into the blue beyond.

How humbling, if only for a moment, to feature in their awareness, to be the focus of their attention, and to witness so playful a gesture.


#arctic #fjords #MarineMammals #norway #oceanlife #orca #Skjervoy # OrcinusAter #mother #baby

While in northern Norway, we experienced the northern lights almost every night the sky was clear.

On this occasion, a small group of us climbed to the top of Stussnesfjellet, hoping for a spectacular view. Sadly, the aurora disappeared for most of our time up there, teasing us with just a few glimmers of green above the fjords.

On the trail back down, and without warning, the sky above us lit up from horizon to horizon, a blazing green river of dancing light. From here there was no other view, just the aurora above. But wow, what a sky!

We’re blessed with extraordinary solar activity right now, and images of the Merry Dancers, the Fyrialjus, and the Tahu-nui-a-rangi are appearing from all over the world.

Friends in both Ireland and Australia are witnessing the Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis from places where they’re rarely seen. I’m so glad that so many of us are able to experience this beautiful sight without having to travel so far.


#Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #NightSky #Skjervoy #Norway #Travel #FishEye